Childhood Fears Ring True in Well-Intentioned Haunter Lead Belly (PANIC)

Title: Lead Belly

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Stephen Simmons

Writer: Stephen Simmons

Runtime: 86 Minutes

Starring: Danny James, Bastian Jesus Carrasco, Liam Foehl

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the Panic Film Festival in 2025.

The tragedy of growing up and not knowing that your circumstances are normal can be devastating to learn upon growing older, if you get the chance. When you are stuck in that spiral, however, even the most exceptional of things can seem mundane.

Brothers Kyle (Bastian Carrasco Betemps) and Marcus (Liam Foehl) are excited to spend summer with their father (Danny James). Once they arrive at their father’s place, the trio fall into a rhythm quickly, bonding while walking a thin line to not set each other off. As they stay the course through the summer without hearing from their mother, their father gets more comfortable indulging in bad habits and the brothers find themselves increasingly anxious to leave.

Slow burn coming-of-age without much to chew on, Lead Belly sinks the further it presses on.

Its premise starts with a series of simple summertime escapades before progressing into something much sadder. It’s clear that this dysfunctional family has more problems on their own before whatever is terrorizing them in the night comes into the picture. The slow crumbling of their already fractured dynamic bleeds into sweaty summer days the trio is also subjected to throughout the fraught affair. Soon, it becomes evident that Lead Belly is more about the realities of living in a broken family rather than the literal ghosts that are haunting them.

Kyle, Marcus, and their father make for a strange yet familiar group, plagued by the supernatural but also each other. From the moment they are picked up, their father, Michael, is acting strange. Enforcing odd new rules, experiencing violent mood swings, and never mentioning a job or other friends outside his hookups, makes it easy to heap suspicion on him. Despite this, the trio share a quiet understanding that this is the best their summer can get. As brothers, Kyle and Marcus strike a balance of caring for each other while behaving exactly how rambunctious kids would, especially under the supervision of a disaster man-child. Eating spaghetti on the floor and overhearing distressing phone calls during hide-and-seek, the imagery Lead Belly evokes captures this specific feeling quite adeptly. 

Perhaps the greatest strength behind Lead Belly is its ability to examine the harshness of reality for kids who are at the mercy of their parent’s decisions. People often forget how vulnerable children really are across the world. The not-quite-right elements of Michael’s summer fling with the boys become clearer the longer the summer heat simmers. Ghosts, serial killers, and monsters aren’t the only dangers in life. Sometimes it looks like a parent who has no idea what they’re doing and hoping ignoring their problems means they’ll go away. Kyle and Marcus represent different kinds of innocence stolen in these stories, Kyle standing in for the young and defenseless while Marcus serving as the older sibling forced to take on a parenting role, robbing him of his own agency and freedom.

Unfortunately, the slow pacing and repetition becomes the death of Lead Belly before it is able to fulfill its horror promises. Wasting away like passing summer days, the action of the film is as unfocused as its story reaches its conclusion. The strangeness is slowly explained as the audience learns about the boy’s history and shared trauma. Its human drama culminates in a compelling manner but sadly the supernatural components fall flat.

Not the kind of summertime fun one would expect from a 90s nostalgia flick, Lead Belly is a sad family drama dressed up in the trappings of a bare bones, supernatural horror film. Interesting characters fall flat against a story content to laze about before trying to stick the landing with a chaotic finale. There’s creativity and heart in the project, which is evident throughout, so it’s disappointing it doesn’t quite land. Lead Belly more than likely isn’t on your radar, but it’s worth giving a chance to an indie film with a strong vision and something to say.

Overall Score? 4/10